Abstract for: Rising Health Care Costs in Switzerland: Reasons and Interventions

Health care costs in Switzerland are rising every year and take up an increasingly large proportion of the GDP. Those rising costs are one of the biggest worries in Switzerland. This problem of rising health care costs is of high complexity and enormous multifaceted. The costs for health care are difficult to detangle. The result of this paper therefore is a simulation analysis which uses existing external historical data to uncover the reasons and interactions of health costs in Switzerland to make an estimation about its development. With the help of simulations, different scenarios and policies are tested. The scenarios and policies are factors that have a direct influence on the Swiss health system costs. Two main conclusions could be drawn from the model. The age cohort from 66-85 years old is generating the most costs in the health system. They are the one who claim the most nursing home treatments, which is the most expensive service per treatment. When having a look at the absolute costs for each health care service there are hospital treatments who are accountable for the largest share of the costs.